GL95

I’m watching Bridget’s first few months in town, and though she spoke about it vaguely I didn’t realize the level of trouble with Elvis and general manipulation of everyone. She was always young mom/runs Company and the boarding house person to me. Then Julie right now is her nice innocent friend being taught how to manipulate Mallet by Bridget-what a difference a few years makes.

I just watched the period where Roger embezzled from the foundation with AM as the patsy and it’s a miracle the IRS let them have a foundation at Spaulding it seems.

Ross was DA at that time and Sam is talking about being a public defender-guessing they were setting up the prosecutor/defense attorney family opponents. It’s funny but I actually had no idea Sam existed because I didn’t start watching until 1995 in its original run. As a random starting point to pick up the early 90s I chose Rick Hearst’s debut as AM and half the episode was a montage of Dylan/Sam making out on the beach and I had no clue who she was because there was only music and no dialogue. It was a wild time to pick up-in short order Roger rescues AM from kidnappers/Reva drives off the bridge/Sam’s paralyzed from jumping out of the car.

I’m up to where they had Sam go to law school so it seemed like that was briefly the plan.

A random thing I’ve noticed watching 1990/91 episodes-they mention all the time that the Bauer and Spaulding residences are next door to one another and I don’t remember this ever once being mentioned in the 1993-1997 rewatch I recently did.

Thank you! I remember liking original recipe Crazy Annie, Phillip/Harley (I had zero history of either but liked their dynamic), Abby’s journey, Danny/Michelle despite really wanting to hate the mob story, Aubrey Dollar’s Marina, and I actually liked the two fathers of the twins twist. I watched B&B first and that show has all the paternity testing-I liked the wrinkle. I feel like there’s other stuff I’m forgetting but there was a lot of dreadful plots with the occasional gem for years. The casting of the younger set late 90s/early 2000s was a highlight. Hayden Panatierre/Brittany Snow/Matthew Bomer (even though his plot was insane)/Tom Pelphrey etc.

I know the basics of what’s coming with Elena etc-I am up to what I think seems to be a big moment which was Roger using him as a patsy in the embezzlement scheme. Though poor AM might have had one of the worst days of anyone when Blake told him she miscarried and he found out Phillip “died” within hours of each other. Of course neither thing was true but ouch.

I went up to mid-1997 but since I’d watched up to 2005 or so in first run decided to go backwards at that point. I was curious to fill in some gaps which has been really interesting. It’s like watching a prequel. I was completely unfamiliar with Harley/Phillip pre-1996 and just heard snatches on the Roger/Alex backstory through exposition. I’m up to August 1991 now. I’m very much enjoying the no Alan of it all.

I started watching GL in high school sometime spring 1995 and got into it because of Alan Michael and Lucy, but picked a good spot as it was in their sexual tension phase right before the rape. I rewatched the LAM clips then discovered the vault and started when Rick Hearst took over as AM circa June 1990. It was also the same week Reva drove off the bridge. I’m up June 1991 and it’s pretty jarring how different Alex/AM are viewed by the rest of Springfield. (I never realized just how much of a retcon it would’ve been for either of them to be A Spaulding during that nonsense-Alan was sending Phillip taunting messages from prison back then even!) I have many thoughts but one unsurprising one is I even more appreciate Rick Hearst. 1990/1991 AM is more boyish and naive but still feels like the same person as he does when he ascends to power. I know this is blasphemy to some, but story wise I think the show could’ve benefitted from AM/Blake being a couple that can’t stay out of each other’s orbit. Blake getting pregnant out of the one night mistake with AM would’ve made Alan’s return and rivalry with Roger get so much more interesting with a grandchild in the mix. (Ross actually drives me insane starting with him getting seduced by Blake as he’s in a constant loop of a woman manipulating him and him falling for it every time between Blake/Dinah/Amanda.)